Air Pollution and Mental Health of Older Adults in China

Author

Yishu Zhou, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyFollow
Jingyi Liu

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the association between air pollution and the mental health and depression of older adults in China. Along with the rapid economic development, concerns about air pollution and recognition of the importance of mental health have risen remarkably in China. Although no firm evidence of an association between air pollution and overall mental health has been found, the results show significant evidence of a positive relationship between air pollution and depression. Moreover, we observe the presence of concerns about environmental inequality, as people are more sensitive to contaminations caused by pollutants with high variation in densities across counties, such as PM_2.5, PM₁₀, and SO₂. Although O₃ has a high average absolute density, the impact on mental health is low due to the limited variations nationwide. Physical fitness, gender, relative income, marital status, and social contacts are also found to be related to mental health and depression of older adults.

Recommended Citation

Zhou, Y., & Liu, J. (2020). Air Pollution and Mental Health of Older Adults in China. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12(3) MDPI AG.

The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/su12030950

Department(s)

Economics

Research Center/Lab(s)

Center for Research in Energy and Environment (CREE)

Keywords and Phrases

Air pollution; Depression; Mental health; Older adults

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

2071-1050

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Final Version

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2020 The Authors, All rights reserved.

Creative Commons Licensing

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Publication Date

01 Feb 2020